Gheorghe Asachi - Descendants

Descendants

Elena, Gheorghe Asachi's widow, died in 1877. Of his adopted children, Dimitrie Asachi was to be the most famous: a pupil of his stepfather's, he was to author the first original book on mathematics in his country (1841). Alexandru Asachi, who joined the Romanian Army and became an officer, was himself known as an artist: a lithographer and author of historical works, he published several albums of hand-colored prints during the 1850s.

In 1835, Hermiona Asachi (whose given name was often Francised as Hermione) fell in love with Alexandru, the underage son of former Prince Alexander Mourousis, who soon after moved into Asachi's house; this scandalized other members of the Mourousis family, and the conflict was ended only when the two youths agreed to marry. They had a son, George Moruzi, who died in 1856. In 1843, Hermiona translated and published Silvio Pellico's collection of maxims, Dei doveri degli uomini. She got married a second time, in 1852, to the well-known French historian Edgar Quinet (between 1841 and 1845, she had attended Quinet's lectures at the Collège de France); five years later, Asachi translated and Quinet's collected works into Romanian — according to historian Nicolae Iorga, the edition was toned-down and censored. The Quinets did not have any children.